Foul play suspected in death of woman on US 60

A woman was killed while trying to crawl across traffic lanes on the westbound U.S. 60 early Friday morning.

DPS officers identified the woman to be Calcia B. Conway, 21, of the Phoenix area.

Authorities were uncertain why Conway crossed the freeway or how she reached the middle HOV lane where she was hit. But Department of Public Safety officer Robert Bailey said Friday afternoon there were a lot of “suspicions” about the case and there is a possibility of foul play.

The case is being treated as a homicide, which is typically how such a case would be labeled until the investigation proves otherwise.

Conway attempted to crawl from the south to the north side of the freeway, beginning in the center HOV lane about 4:47 a.m., said DPS spokesman Bart Graves.

Police said Conway might have been injured before she crossed.
She was initially hit by a Toyota Sequoia SUV, which was rear ended at high speed by a Toyota Corolla. A third driver in a Chrysler sedan swerved to avoid the first two cars and apparently hit the woman as well.

Police pronounced Conway dead at the scene. No one was taken to the hospital, but the driver of the Toyota Corolla received minor injuries.

A witness, who drove by the scene as authorities arrived, said Conway's body was lying across the HOV lane face down, drivers detouring around it.

Westbound U.S. 60 re-opened around 11:30 a.m. after being closed for more than six hours.

Morning commuters were rerouted onto northbound Loop 101, where traffic also backed up because of another accident at Broadway. The Red Mountain portion of the Loop 202 also had heavy traffic as commuters headed north on surface streets to avoid the collision.

Traffic remained backed up into the late morning. Some East Valley commuters faced commutes of 2 hours or more.

Last summer, two people were struck and killed on Valley freeways. In June, Millie Cano, 62, was killed on the Loop 202 near Arizona 51 after walking in traffic lanes.

In late May, Byron Yellowhair was struck and killed by a number of cars and trucks on Interstate 10 in Central Phoenix.